Portrait of Lady Lucy Percy, Countess of Carlisle (1599-1660), three-quarter-length, in a red dress with a chaplet of flowers in her hair

Details

CIRCLE OF SIR ANTHONY VAN DYCK (ANTWERP 1599-1641 LONDON)
Portrait of Lady Lucy Percy, Countess of Carlisle (1599-1660), three-quarter-length, in a red dress with a chaplet of flowers in her hair
oil on canvas
52 1⁄8 x 42 ½ in. (132.4 x 107.9 cm.)
with identifying inscription 'Ladÿ Lucÿ Piercÿ Countess / of Carlile' (lower left)
in a frame of foliate carved and pierced giltwood, applied to an ebonised subframe

Please note that 100% of the hammer proceeds from this auction will be paid to the Sandys Trust, registered charity number: 1168357, with the exception of limited deductions towards sale costs across the auction which cannot be accurately calculated at this time, capped at a total of £10,000.

Provenance

By descent to Richard Hill, 7th Baron Sandys (1931-2013), Ombersley Court, Worcestershire.

Literature

J. Grego, Inventory of Pictures: Portraits, Paintings, etc., Ombersley MS., 1905, where listed in the State Parlor.
ONM / 1 / 2 / 7, journal entry for a visit to Ombersley Court, 25 August 1950, Oliver Millar Archive, Paul Mellon Centre, London, p. 24.
A. Oswald, 'Ombersley Court, Worcestershire - II', Country Life, 9 January 1953, p. 94, where listed in the Rose Boudoir.
Ombersley Court Inventory, June 1963, annotated Ombersley MS., where listed in the small Dining Room.
O. Millar, in S.J. Barnes et al., Van Dyck: A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, New Haven and London, 2004, p. 455, under no. IV.38.
Ombersley Court Catalogue of Pictures, undated, Ombersley MS., p. 26, where listed in the Dining Room.

Exhibited

Birmingham, City Museum and Art Gallery, Commemorative Exhibition of the Art Treasures of the Midlands, 1934, no. 458, lent by Lord Sandys.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Adrian Hume-Sayer Director, Specialist

Lot Essay

Lady Lucy Percy's influential position in the Stuart court was well-established. Her celebrated wit and beauty, friendship with Queen Henrietta Maria, and involvement in political affairs cemented her status as one of the most admired and best-known women of her day. Percy was the second surviving daughter of Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland, and Lady Dorothy Devereux. In 1617 she married James, Lord Hay of Sawley, who in 1622 was created Earl of Carlisle. He was one of many Scots brought to England and favoured by James I and VI.

This painting relates to a portrait at Petworth House, Sussex, originally in the collection of the sitter's brother, Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland (1602-1668) and painted after 1637 (O. Millar, 2004, op. cit., p. 455). Sir Oliver Millar described the present work as 'good' and 'early' (O. Millar, op. cit., 1950, p. 24). The painting may have come to Ombersley via Thomas Cheke (see lot 43); Lucy Percy was his first cousin once removed, and the great-aunt of his first wife, Dorothy Sidney.

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